Month: September 2016

Enforcing prevention efforts to minimize the chances of hospital-borne infections has shown to have a big impact on the rate of bloodstream infections. At short-term acute care hospitals where these prevention methods were highlighted and highly enforced, the number of central-line bloodstream infections was reduced by 50% in 2014, compared to the numbers in 2008. These methods are nothing radical. Instead, they have been known to be as simple as a reminder checklist for hospital staff. These checklists serve as reminders for clinicians to wash their hands, to clean the skin of a patient, or to change soiled dressings. Although it's assumed that hospital staff will wash hands thoroughly and clean surfaces, many facilities fall short of the goal. Keeping a level of high expectations is p...

Research suggests that gratitude emerges in children between the ages of seven and 10, but as those children go back to school, new research also suggests that that age group could benefit from morning exercise and yoga. Gym classes are typically held during school hours, but many schools have reduced physical activity time in favor of academic studies. Despite that, studies have frequently shown that physical activity before school can help students stay focused. Recently, researchers at Arizona State university decided to put more work into that theory. Researchers observed 77 students in grades three and four from a high-achieving private school and an average-performing public school. Obesity rates were 24% and 39% at the two schools, respectively. During the 2013-14 school...

Pet owners in the U.S. spend approximately $13.6 billion on veterinary care every year, but for some organizations, fundraising can help ease some of those costs and help them provide better care for animals. The Arizona Humane Society (AHS) is one of those organizations, and through a pet telethon they recently organized, they have been able to raise over $500,000 to put towards their cause. Upwards of 17,000 pets were taken in by AHS last year alone, and the funds raised by the pet telethon will go towards providing the best care possible for those still in their shelter. All of the money they received was acquired within a two-hour time frame at the telethon, a truly impressive feat for such a limited time span. "We rely on the community to help us support our kitten nursery...

If you want to, for as little as one dollar a day, you can rent a sheep. Finally! That's not all you can rent, though. Chicken, bees, goats, and even falcons are all on the market. The real estate value of U.S. farm land contributes approximately $2 trillion, but that number could increase once people start renting falcons by the dozens. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Falcon Force supplies farms and orchards across the country with trained falcons. "We're live security guards," said Vahe' Alaverdian, master falconer and owner of Falcon Force. Alaverdian owns 39 raptors and does work in Arizona, California, Oregon, and a few other states. Each falcon is supervised and kept at a specific weight so they refrain from eating pests around the farm property. The price to rent a ...

The Arizona Diamondbacks have had a rough season, with a current record of 55 wins and 76 losses for the regular season. That puts them in last place in the National League West, and second-to-last place in the National League overall standings, ahead of only the Atlanta Braves. With just a month left of regular season play, the Diamondbacks are a full 18 games behind the NL West leaders, the LA Dodgers. While they're well out of the running for postseason wildcard standings, many fans are wondering: What's the future of the team? "As 2016 proved, anything that can go wrong has," writes Michael McDermott for AZ Snakepit, "but that's not a valid excuse for avoiding change where it is needed. The worst thing the team can do is double down on a mistake as opposed to owning up and workin...

An American Red Cross survey reveals that 44% of Americans don't know basic water-safety skills, including proper precautions to take in order to keep the pool clean, which is causing a nasty issue. A parasite is swimming around numerous pools in the Phoenix area, infecting swimmers with diarrhea and other gastrointestinal illnesses. The microscopic parasite, cryptosporidium, was first reported on August 4 in pools throughout Maricopa County. According to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, more than 100 people have been sickened at about 20 pools across the county. The parasite in question, called Crypto, spreads in swimming pools when an infected person contaminates the water with fecal matter. The parasite can survive for long periods of time, even in chlorinated wate...